Department for Transport

Great Western Railway Line

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the provision of trains for non-electrified Great Western West of England services from 2018, what is their assessment of whether an Intercity Express Programme Bi-mode can match the speed, performance on gradients, and operational range under diesel power, of the equivalent IC125 High Speed Train.

Baroness Kramer: The Government is committed to improving services to the West of England, including re-signalling the Cornish mainline, to allow for increased frequencies of trains. The forthcoming Direct Award will set out options for rolling stock including for new-build rolling stock. The current order of bi-mode Intercity Express Programme trains is not intended for West of England services and will be deployed elsewhere.

Great Western Railway Line

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the first Intercity Express Programme trains are scheduled to enter timetabled passenger service on the Great Western Main Line; and at what date the timetable change will be made after the full fleet enters into passenger service.

Baroness Kramer: The first Intercity Express Programme trains are scheduled to enter service in May 2017. The full fleet service timetable change is scheduled for 09 Dec 2018.

Rolling Stock: North of England

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether rolling stock for the Northern and TransPennine rail services will be subject to the residual value scheme established for that franchise.

Baroness Kramer: The rolling stock for the current Northern and TransPennine rail services will not be subject to the residual value scheme established for that franchise.

Great Western Railway Line

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 11 March (HL5330) concerning the electrification of Thames Valley railways, whether they will answer the question relating to the cost of the project; and what action, if any, they are taking to ensure that the project is delivered on time.

Baroness Kramer: The final cost of the Great Western electrification programme has not yet been determined. Network Rail continues to develop, design and cost the electrification programme with both the Department for Transport and the Office of Rail Regulation. Network Rail must deliver the portfolio of electrification across the UK within its overall budget. We are working closely with Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation to ensure the successful delivery of the electrification of Thames Valley railways.

Driving Tests

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to review the current driving test and the introduction of a graduated driving licence, in the light of changes to vehicle technology including navigation systems, assisted parking and mobile communications and the over representation of young drivers in serious and fatal accidents.

Baroness Kramer: Britain has some of the safest roads in the world. However, young drivers are disproportionately involved in collisions. There is a difficult balance to strike between promoting young drivers safety and their freedom to access work and education. We won’t rule out further measures, but at present we are focussing our efforts on technological solutions. We commissioned research into how telematics can reduce accident rates among young drivers and the findings will help to shape future road safety policy. A description of the research requirement has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. We expect phase one to be completed in April 2015. The timing of phase two will be dependent on the first phase.

A303

Lord Cameron of Dillington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current timetables for the development of the A303 from Stonehenge to Taunton, including making it a dual carriageway.

Baroness Kramer: The Road Investment Strategy (RIS) stated our intention to upgrade all remaining sections of the A303 between the M3 and the A358 to dual carriageway standard, together with creating a dual carriageway link from the M5 at Taunton to the A303, as part of a commitment to creating a new Expressway to the South West. We have started this process by developing and starting work on major improvements during the first Road Period between 2015/16 and 2020/21. The upgrading of further sections of the route to dual carriageway standard will be developed for delivery in subsequent Road Periods. The Highways Agency is currently refining and assessing the range of identified options to understand their traffic, environmental and economic impacts. The Agency is in dialogue with established key stakeholders, including English Heritage and The National Trust, and engagement will continue throughout the development process. Across all schemes: - Public engagement is expected to take place between 2016 and 2017; - Recommendations on preferred route options is anticipated to be between late 2017 and 2018; - Depending upon the progress of the statutory process, start on site aims to be between 2019 and early 2021.

Network Rail

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with Network Rail over giving the company compulsory purchase powers outside its permitted development rights to enable it to obtain access to its land or achieve small enhancements, maintenance and renewals more quickly and cheaply.

Baroness Kramer: There have been no general discussions between Her Majesty’s Government and Network Rail in relation to giving Network Rail additional compulsory purchase powers for the purposes mentioned. Her Majesty's Governmentand Network Rail from time to time discuss particular applications by Network Rail, under section 14 of the Railway Regulation Act 1842, in relation to obtaining temporary access to land neighbouring the railway, where this is needed for the purpose of certain safety works on the railway. Network Rail can also apply to Her Majesty's Government, under section 15 of that Act, for a revival of the compulsory purchase powers which would originally have applied under the enabling legislation for the relevant stretch of railway; again this would be where such acquisition is needed to be able to effect safety repairs and works. Each application by Network Rail under section 14 and 15 is considered on its specific facts and the safety issues arising. The powers of entry arising under section 14 of the 1842 Act were considered both by the Transport Resilience Review and the Powers of Entry Review under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Following on from these Her Majesty's Government expects to consult with Network Rail and other stakeholders over a code of practice in relation to the use of section 14.

Roads: Litter

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they are aware of regarding whether rubbish on the sides of roads in England has increased or decreased over the current Parliament, and what that evidence shows.

Baroness Kramer: The Highways Agency published a litter strategy in April 2014 and this highlights that since April 2011 the amount of litter on the strategic road network has reduced by approximately 25%. The Highways Agency continues to work with relevant stakeholders on litter issues, including encouraging commercial vehicle operators to ensure their vehicles do not spill litter or debris. This includes working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Keep Britain Tidy to raise public awareness of the dangers and costs of litter. The Agency also undertakes campaigns to encourage motorists to take their litter home making use of social media channels and roadside variable message signs to remind drivers to dispose of their litter responsibly. DEFRA also plays an active role in reducing litter and, as you may know, provides funding to Keep Britain Tidy. This organisation is well established and undertakes a range of activities, including educational campaigns in respect of the impacts that litter can cause to the environment. In respect to local highway authority roads, the Department for Transport does not hold data in respect of litter on the local road network, as litter clearance is a matter for the relevant local authority.

*No heading*

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent incident near the Hebrides in which a British trawler was reported to have caught its nets on an unidentified submarine.

Baroness Kramer: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is assessing the evidence following the report of an incident involving the fishing vessel Aquarius with five crew on board in the North Minch on 17 March 2015. This assessment has included contacting the skipper of the vessel, as well as the Ministry of Defence, and is still ongoing.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Homelessness: Tower Hamlets

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 9 March (HL5059), whether they will place in the Library of the House copies of their correspondence with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets about the number of homeless families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation beyond the six week limit.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: I refer the noble Lady to the answer given by my rt Hon Friend the former Minister of State for Housing (Grant Shapps) on 25 June 2012, Official Report, column 680W.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Ilois: Resettlement

Lord Luce: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to make a decision about the resettlement of Chagossians in the British Indian Ocean territory, in the light of the KPMG report Feasibility Study the resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory of 31 January.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: I refer the noble Lord to my Written Ministerial Statement of 24 March 2015 on the Progress in reviewing policy on resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

India

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of recent spending by the government of India on defence, and its impact on global peace and regional stability.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We welcome the role India plays in global peace, not least its contribution as a troop-contributing peacekeeping country, and India’s key role in promoting regional security and stability. We are supportive of Indian membership of the major export control regimes and the UN Security Council. We welcome the Government of India’s commitment to increasing jobs, prosperity and skills in their defence sector. The UK is ready to work with India to achieve these aims, in accordance with our international commitments.

Bangladesh

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the charges against the Bangladesh Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia announced by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Bangladesh Parliament on 11 March.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of the two corruption charges against the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, and we are monitoring the legal process closely. To promote confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law, it is essential that the criminal justice system in Bangladesh is seen to be impartial. We therefore hope that any action taken is in accordance with Bangladesh’s due legal process and that Khaleda Zia is accorded the rights to which every citizen in Bangladesh is entitled.

Vietnam

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to pursue the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt, in his report A/HRC/28/66/Add.2 on freedom of religion and belief in Vietnam, at (1) the United Nations, (2) the United Nations Human Rights Council and (3) in their direct communications with the government of Vietnam.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised our human rights concerns at his recent visit to Vietnam, both during the Strategic Dialogue and in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on 27 February. Our Embassy in Hanoi also works closely with Embassies of likeminded countries to ensure freedom of religion or belief is raised regularly with the Vietnamese authorities, for example at the EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue in January. In our annual Human Rights Report we highlighted our concerns about vague provisions within the current penal code of Vietnam, including the article highlighted in the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations, and encouraged the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take appropriate steps. We also played a full role in the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Vietnam in 2014. We will continue to champion the UN’s special procedure mechanisms and urge all UN member states to offer an open invitation to and cooperate with Rapporteurs on country visits.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they have given to Scott Campbell, the Director of the United Nations joint human rights office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was recently expelled from that country for publishing a report documenting police killing of street children known as kuluna.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: I refer the noble Lord to my answer of 6 March to the noble Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (HL5054). Our Ambassador in Kinshasa made clear in his official statement of 20 October 2014 the UK Government’s profound concern over the expulsion of Scott Campbell. The UN Security Council has given a mandate to its Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to monitor, report and follow-up on human rights violations and abuses. The Joint Human Rights Office’s reporting and its recommendations for action by the Government of the DRC and the international community are an important element of the UN’s work in the DRC and we expect it to be treated with respect.

Ukraine: Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will seek agreement to concerted European and United States action in the event of any Russian-inspired attack on or towards the city of Mariupol in Ukraine.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK will continue to work closely with our international partners to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine and calls on Russia to withdraw its equipment and troops from Ukraine, secure its borders and cease support for the separatists.Sanctions must remain in place until there is full compliance with the Minsk agreements. New sanctions, which could be imposed quickly if there is further Russian aggression or if Russia fails to comply with its obligations under the Minsk agreements, are being prepared.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the escalation of the conflict, including sexual violence targeted at women, in Darfur over the past 12 months; and what assessment they have made of the outcome of investigations into reports of mass rape in Tabit earlier this year.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain deeply concerned by the continued escalation of conflict in Darfur that has resulted in over 40,000 newly displaced persons so far in 2015. Reports of widespread sexual violence, including Human Rights Watch’s investigation into the events in Tabit, are deeply disturbing. In my press statement of 13 February I reiterated our call for a full and independent investigation into what happened in Tabit and unfettered access for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission in Darfur, as well as for humanitarian agencies to provide assistance.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that fair or free elections can be held in the Republic of Sudan next month while people there are displaced or affected by violence; if so, how; how they consider that conditions there compare with those which prevailed before the 2010 elections; and whether their assessment is that elections will hinder or help national dialogue in Sudan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Due to the ongoing conflicts, political detentions, and clampdown on media freedoms, it is hard to see how elections scheduled in April 2015 could be free and fair. The 2010 elections were an important milestone in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but five years on restrictions on political freedoms remain. We urge all parties to stand by their commitments to National Dialogue. A genuine National Dialogue remains the best opportunity to achieve a genuinely representative political system.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of (1) the number of newspapers closed in Sudan in the last five years, (2) the number of opposition leaders or human rights activists imprisoned or detained there, and (3) the provision made for opposition parties to be able to express their views during the election period.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Whilst we do not have specific data going back five years, ongoing restrictions on press and political freedoms have seen a number of newspapers seized or closed down in Sudan. The environment so far in 2015 has been particularly concerning: on 16 February a total of 14 papers were seized in a single day. Opposition leaders and human rights activists also continue to be obstructed and detained. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum have made representations to the Government of Sudan including most recently on the cases of Dr Amin Mekki Medani, Farouk Abu Eissa and Farah Ibrahim Mohamed al-Agar. Such actions by the Sudanese government restrict opportunities for the free expression of views in advance of the planned elections.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last discussed with the government of Turkey the freedom of United Kingdom visitors to practise their religion in that country, and with what result.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We regularly raise the issue of religious freedom in bilateral discussions with the Turkish government. In January 2015 our Ambassador in Ankara discussed, inter alia, freedom of religion with Professor Dr Mehmet Görmez, the Head of the Diyanet (Presidency of Religious Affairs) of Turkey. Our Embassy in Ankara has regular meetings with religious groups and civil society to discuss the strengthening of the freedom of religion in Turkey. The European Commission’s 2014 Annual Progress Report on Turkey confirmed that freedom of worship continued to be generally respected.

Swaziland

Lord Lea of Crondall: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will support the case for the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to examine the ability of political parties to operate freely in Swaziland and for members elected as representatives of political parties to represent voters in Parliament, in line with the Commonwealth Charter.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain concerned about the lack of progress towards inclusive democracy and the deteriorating human rights situation in Swaziland. The UK is not a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), but we continue to encourage all members of the Commonwealth, including members of CMAG, to ensure adherence to commitments made in the Commonwealth Charter. We also support the work of the Commonwealth’s Special Envoy to Swaziland, former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, to promote democratic reform and political freedom in Swaziland.

Zimbabwe

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in the past year to raise concerns with the government of Zimbabwe about human rights violations, including threats, as well as the use, of violence, denial of freedom of expression and assembly, and breaches of the rule of law.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our Embassy in Harare works closely with non-governmental organisations, development agencies, the EU and other diplomatic missions to monitor the human rights situation on the ground closely. They meet with the Government of Zimbabwe regularly, both bilaterally and in partnership with other EU Member States, and call for an end to all human rights abuses and the restoration of internationally accepted human rights standards in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the European Union policy decision on resuming bilateral aid to Zimbabwe and allowing President Mugabe to travel to European Union member states on African Union business; and what position they have taken on that issue.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: EU Member States agreed in February to renew, for a further year, the Arms Embargo and active travel ban and asset freeze against President Mugabe, the First Lady, and Zimbabwe Defence Industries. Contrary to media reporting, the EU did not agree a relaxation to President Mugabe’s travel ban during his term as African Union Chair. Exemptions to the travel ban can only be granted in exceptional circumstances and require the agreement of all EU Member States. EU Member States reviewed the governance and human rights situation in Zimbabwe in October 2014. Member States agreed that there had not been a ‘serious deterioration’, which was the agreed condition for renewing the EU Appropriate Measures. The Appropriate Measures therefore expired in November 2014. This enabled the EU to plan a strategic aid programme in Zimbabwe for 2014-20, delivering support directly to agencies on the ground. The EU had an aid programme in Zimbabwe before the Appropriate Measures lapsed but this could only be planned on an annual rather than multi-annual basis. The programme covering the 2014-2020 period will help deliver the reforms necessary for Zimbabwe to become a more democratic and prosperous country, which the UK supports.

Zimbabwe

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what priority they accord to developing foreign policy towards Zimbabwe, and what measures they have adopted in respect of Zimbabwe in the light of that prioritisation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our approach in Zimbabwe is focussed around achieving a more prosperous and democratic society. We do so through engagement with the Government of Zimbabwe, opposition groups, civil society and other relevant actors on: human rights, the rule of law, development, and prosperity promotion.

USA

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make representations to the United States authorities about the use of arms by police forces in that country against black citizens and the reform of policing in the United States.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We will not make representations on this issue as it is a matter for the US authorities. President Obama has announced the creation of a taskforce to build trust between communities and police. The President has also said he will issue an Executive Order aimed at tightening controls on where ex-military equipment is sold or given to domestic law enforcement agencies, and has asked Congress for an additional $263 million to increase the use of body-worn video cameras and improve community policing.

USA

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the statement on St Patrick's Day by Joe Biden, United States Vice President, that "anyone wearing orange is not welcome here".

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Vice President Biden made clear that his remarks were intended as a joke. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers), was in Washington DC for Saint Patrick’s Day events and received a warm welcome from the Administration and on the Hill. She attended the Speaker’s lunch and a reception at the White House where the President publicly thanked her for her work in securing the Stormont House Agreement in December.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Research

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the United Kingdom’s research and development intensity above the 1.7 per cent reported by the Office for National Statistics last March for 2012; and whether they anticipate that the United Kingdom will meet the three per cent research and development intensity targets set by the European Union when the latest figures are released by the Office of National Statistics.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government's Science & Innovation Strategy, published last December has a long term commitment to research infrastructure of £1.1bn a year, increasing in real terms to 2021. This will give businesses long term certainty in planning their R&D investments which will be vital in ensuring the UK increases its R&D intensity. The Government has also protected the science ring fence in cash terms during this Parliament.

Gripen Aircraft: Argentina

Lord Temple-Morris: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that United Kingdom technology incorporated in Gripen aircraft is not made available to Argentina.

Lord Livingston of Parkhead: I refer the noble Lord to the written ministerial statement made on the 26 April 2012 by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on this matter.

Cars

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many new cars the United Kingdom registered in (1) 2013, and (2) 2014, by (a) country of destination, and (b) marque.

Lord Livingston of Parkhead: The total number of new cars registered in the UK in 2013 was 2,476,435. In 2014 the figure was 2,264,737.   Data on the country of destination is not held Total registrations are shown by marque. However as these are all registered in the UK, there is no country of destination, as this would only apply to cars exported from the UK.   REGISTRATIONS OF NEW CARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM - BY MARQUE20132014Abarth1,3521,642Alfa Romeo5,6875,523Aston Martin926864Audi142,040158,987Bentley1,2311,472BMW135,583148,878Chevrolet11,6762,774Chrysler2,5151,982Citroen78,35883,397Dacia17,14623,862Fiat60,19867,162Ford310,865326,643Honda55,66053,544Hyundai76,91881,986Infiniti386746Jaguar16,21018,401Jeep2,2293,909Kia72,09077,525Land Rover54,69956,200Lexus9,01411,572Lotus256235Maserati3191,194Mazda31,22837,784Mercedes-Benz109,456124,419MG5042,326Mia55MINI51,93353,661Mitsubishi9,04415,805Nissan 117,967 138,338Perodua20629Peugeot105,435103,566Porsche8,2609,160Proton2011Renault46,17366,334Saab33SEAT45,31253,512Skoda66,08175,488smart5,3144,342Ssangyong6621,542Subaru2,2712,793Suzuki33,08837,395Toyota88,64894,012Vauxhall259,444269,177Volkswagen194,085214,828Volvo32,66641,066

Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take against extractives industry companies which seek to subvert the intention behind the Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government expects companies to comply with the requirements of the Reports on Payments to Government Regulations 2014. The Regulations, which came into effect on 1 December 2014, set out the enforcement and penalty regime for any company that fails to comply in part or in full. It is a matter for the company to ensure that it is fully complying with the requirements. On a criminal conviction for not doing so the penalty may be a fine or a term of imprisonment for the directors of the company.Reports made annually by companies under these Regulations will be published on Companies House website where both government and other interested parties will be able to consider the reports and their accuracy.

Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to ensure that United Kingdom extractives industry companies do not interpret the requirements of the Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014 in a way that will enable corrupt payments in resource-rich countries to stay hidden.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government expects companies to comply with the requirements of the Reports on Payments to Government Regulations 2014. The Regulations, which came into effect on 1 December 2014, set out the enforcement and penalty regime for any company that fails to comply in part or in full. It is a matter for the company to ensure that it is fully complying with the requirements. On a criminal conviction for not doing so the penalty may be a fine or a term of imprisonment for the directors of the company.Reports made annually by companies under these Regulations will be published on Companies House website where both government and other interested parties will be able to consider the reports and their accuracy.

Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will endorse the United Kingdom extractives industry’s guidance on the Reports on Payments to Governments Regulations 2014 if that guidance could in any way enable corrupt payments in resource-rich countries to stay hidden.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Any guidance that is produced by industry is for the use of the companies within that sector. Any company completing a report on payments made to government must be confident that they have met the requirements of the regulations and where appropriate taken independent legal advice.

Department for International Development

West Africa: Ebola

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the Save the Children report A Wake-up Call: Lessons from Ebola for the world's health systems which says that, whilst $4.3 billion was spent on responding to ebola, it would only have cost $1.58 billion to develop health care systems up to minimum standard of health services in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Ebola crisis has demonstrated that it is critical to invest in national health systems in epidemic prevention, preparedness and response in order significantly to reduce the risk of a global epidemic. The UK will work with the Government of Sierra Leone and partners to seek a legacy of effective systems and structures that will contribute to improved future service delivery and infrastructure. This will ensure that should Sierra Leone be faced with a subsequent outbreak of Ebola or an epidemic of another disease, it is able to respond effectively.   Between 2005 and 2010 DFID spent £22.9 million on the health sector in Sierra Leone, and contributed a further £63.8 million between 2010 and 2014.

Military Aid

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which NATO countries reimburse costs from their overseas aid budget to their defence budget when their military are deployed internationally on humanitarian exercises.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: In the UK, Humanitarian and disaster-relief operations are the only activity area in support of international development where the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is formally reimbursed from the overseas aid budget. We do not hold information on transfers between overseas aid and defence budgets in other NATO countries. Reporting on how NATO countries spend Official Development Assistance (ODA) is done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC). The OECD-DAC publish project level information on spend by all donor members, including NATO countries, on their website (wwww.oecd.org/dac/stats/). This includes data on humanitarian assistance spending, which may or may not be partially reimbursed from defence budgets.

Sudan: South Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Northover on 4 March (HL Deb, col 215), what steps they are taking with their international partners to prevent the government of Sudan from further destabilising the situation in South Sudan through cross-border interference and interventions; on what evidence they base their assertion that "the government of Sudan themselves are playing a non-obstructive role generally speaking"; and to which non-governmental humanitarian organisations and charities the government of Sudan allows access to provide humanitarian assistance in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: We have consistently been clear in our private engagements with countries in the region, including Sudan, that they need to support all efforts to bring peace to the people of South Sudan. The Government of Sudan has played a non-obstructive role in the peace process led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which it has supported, including through being part of IGAD’s core mediation team.   According to data relating to UK funding of the Common Humanitarian Fund in 2014 we can confirm that the Government of Sudan has allowed access to both national and international non-governmental humanitarian organisations in Darfur and government-controlled parts of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the number of (1) villages destroyed in Darfur in 2014, (2) people who were newly displaced that year, (3) displaced people in Darfur in total, and (4) Darfurians currently in refugee camps in Eastern Chad.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: According to the latest UN Panel of Experts report of 15th January 2015, 3,324 villages were destroyed between December 2013 and April 2014. The United Nations (UN) Sudan 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan estimates that in Darfur 430,000 people were displaced in 2014 resulting in a total number of 2.5 million people displaced. The United Nation High Commission for Refugees has a record of 367,229 Sudanese refugees in Chad of the 28 February 2015.

Sierra Leone

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what long-term plans they have for health infrastructure developed as part of the response to ebola in Sierra Leone.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Ebola crisis has demonstrated that it is critical to invest in national health systems in epidemic prevention, preparedness and response in order significantly to reduce the risk of a global epidemic. The UK will work with the Government of Sierra Leone and partners to improve systems and structures that will contribute to better future service delivery and infrastructure. This will ensure that should Sierra Leone be faced with a subsequent outbreak of Ebola or an epidemic of another disease, it is better able to respond effectively.

Africa: Education

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what amount, and proportion, of United Kingdom aid to the African continent has been spent enhancing the education of African children in each of the last 10 years.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The table below shows UK bilateral Official Development Assistance expenditure for education in Africa for each of the last ten years for which figures are available. Information for multilateral expenditure and expenditure through centrally managed programmes is not available in the form requested:2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 UK ODA Education Sector Spend to Africa(GBP millions)529117781221217244290351UK ODA Education Spendto Africa as a proportion of UK ODATotal Spent in Africa (%)2.53.114.45.712.210.911.513.314.0   Source: Statistics in Development dataset

Zimbabwe

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the United Kingdom contributes to European Union bilateral aid to Zimbabwe.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The European Union (EU) funds development work in Zimbabwe through the DCI, the EIDHR, the IFS and ECHO and the EDF. No EU aid goes through Government of Zimbabwe systems. The UK’s share of the EU’s expenditure in these instruments is approximately 15 percent.

Overseas Aid

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 13 March (HL5305), whether they will publish the figures on United Kingdom expenditure on Official Development Assistance for the five years 2009 to 2013, broken down between (1) humanitarian and emergency assistance, and (2) ongoing assistance for development programmes.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The table below provides details of total UK bilateral Official Development Assistance for the five years 2009 – 2013 broken down between (1) humanitarian and emergency assistance and (2) all other types of development assistance.£'m 20092010201120122013Humanitarian aid (including emergency response)£484£369£422£425£826All Other UK Bilateral Aid£4,320£4,821£4,837£5,134£5,919

Egypt

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance has been provided by the Department for International Development to Egypt in each of the last five years; and what is planned for the current year and two following years.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Since 2011 DFID has provided assistance to Egypt through the regional £125 million Arab Partnership Economic Facility (APEF), which supports economic reform and development in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco and Libya. Examples of DFID support in Egypt include technical assistance for the passing of a new micro-finance law and the development of a new poverty database; the provision of capacity building support and access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; and a rights and skills programme for female-headed households.   Many of the regional APEF projects will continue in 2015/16 and support will also be provided through the cross-government Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). The programme of CSSF assistance for Egypt in 2015/16 is currently being developed; future funding is still to be considered.

Department for Education

Social Services: Children

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve funding and support for child social care.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education recognises the need to continue to improve funding and support for children’s social care, supporting local authorities to improve the provision of their services and get better value for money. Although local authorities are responsible for the vast majority of the expenditure in children’s social services, the Department’s investment and support has been focused across four key areas: innovation; direct support to underperforming authorities; improvements to the social work force; and leadership. There are also a number of areas of specific support, such as the Department’s response to adoption, child sexual exploitation, and children in care.   The Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme has allocated an additional £100 million funding for 2014-15 and 2015-16, targeted at supporting vulnerable children and those on the edge of care. The programme was launched in order to enable local authorities, charities, social enterprises and private organisations to test new methods of delivery in order to achieve higher quality and better value for money. The programme covers 50 projects and involves 72 local authorities. The Department will be working closely with all projects to support implementation and build a strong evidence base. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-services-innovation-programme The Department regularly intervenes to provide effective support to local authorities which are failing to provide safe children’s social care services. We have recently strengthened underperforming authorities by appointing six experts in children’s social care to support them.   With regard to strengthening the social work workforce, by the end of the current Parliament, the Department will have invested more than £680 million in social work training and improvement, mostly in bursaries to social work students. We are also committed to improving the quality of social worker recruitment through the Frontline and Step Up to Social Work entry training programmes for high calibre recruits.   With regard to leadership, the Department is committed to strengthening the quality of those in positions of leadership. The Department has funded the Virtual Staff College with over £8.4 million since 2012-13 in order to provide leadership development for Directors of Children’s Services and Assistant Directors.  We are taking action to build capacity and expertise in local areas in order to respond to recent reports exposing the level of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The Government responded to the Rotherham reports by announcing a range of action to improve accountability and target prevention. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation--2

Children in Care: Boarding Schools

Lord Lexden: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what encouragement and assistance they are providing to local authorities and charities to enable more children in care suited to a boarding education to find places in boarding schools.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education published guidance in November 2014, entitled Boarding schools: an opportunity to improve outcomes for vulnerable children. This is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/boarding-schools-improving-outcomes-for-vulnerable-children. The Department also held a conference to support local authorities in improving outcomes for children in care.   The guidance aims to encourage local authorities, virtual school head teachers, social workers and other professionals to consider whether a boarding place could be a beneficial option for some vulnerable children, including children who are in, and on the edge of, care. The decision should always focus on what provision would be in the best interests of the child, taking into account both their social and educational needs.   In addition, statutory guidance on promoting the educational achievement of looked after children states: “where a looked-after child would benefit from attending a boarding school, either in the state or independent sector, virtual school heads and social workers should be proactive in considering this option”.

Schools: Sports

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Olympic and Paralympic legacy for school sport in 2013 and 2014.

Lord Nash: The Government has committed over £450 million of ring-fenced funding, until academic year 2015/16, to the improvement of primary physical education (PE) and sport. The funding goes directly to primary schools for head teachers to spend in the way that best meets the needs of their students. They can choose to use the funding to provide new or additional sports activities and hire qualified sports coaches to work alongside teachers.   Our independent evaluation showed that more than two thirds of schools have increased the number of sports offered during lessons and in after school clubs. Over 80% of schools reported an increase in pupil engagement in PE and after school sports clubs compared with the year prior to the introduction of the premium.   We have expanded the School Games, with 18,985 schools participating in 2013/14, including over 13,000 primary schools. The number of disabled participants has increased each year, reaching 28,786 in the 2013/14 Level 3 County Festivals. The Department also continues to fund the Project Ability network which is aiming to increase sporting opportunities for young disabled people through a network of 49 hubs of excellence. More than 24,000 young disabled people have directly benefited.   PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the new national curriculum and there is a greater focus on competitive sport in PE lessons.

Schools: Vocational Guidance

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the proposal from Teach First that every school should have a trained careers leader.

Lord Nash: Identifying an appropriate careers lead could be a helpful model for schools to adopt if it fits with their structure and approach to careers guidance. We have issued schools with statutory guidance which underpins their duty to secure independent careers guidance. This is clear about the need for schools to develop a strategy for careers advice and guidance that is appropriately resourced. Beyond the requirements set out in this document, it is at the discretion of each school as to how to configure their careers programme.   The new, independent careers and enterprise company will help schools and colleges to work with employers to ensure that young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life.

Schools: Vocational Guidance

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to roll out the model of Careers Academies provided at Haverstock School to other schools.

Lord Nash: The government has no plans to roll out the model of Career Academies provided at Haverstock School to other schools. The Career Academy model focuses on linking students to employers. The government is working to bring education and the world of work closer together to help open young people’s eyes to the opportunities available. This expectation has been set out in statutory guidance underpinning schools’ duty to secure independent careers guidance. Beyond the requirements set out in this document, it is at the discretion of each school as to how they go about configuring their careers programme and engaging with employers. In addition, the new employer-led careers and enterprise company, announced by my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State, on 10 December 2014, will help to broker extensive links between employers, schools and colleges. The company will have the specific remit of spreading existing good practice.

Sports: Primary Education

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) whether they will publish their analysis of the impact of the introduction of the Sport Premium on promotion of the provision of physical education in primary schools and the details of how they have held primary schools accountable for spending the Sport Premium; (2) how many primary schools have benefited from the Sport Premium; and (3) whether they will list those schools which have failed to meet their guidelines for funding.

Lord Nash: Through the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium, the Department for Education is providing over £450 million of ring-fenced funding across three academic years, until academic year 2015/16, to improve PE and sport. The independent research company, NatCen, is evaluating the impact, and assessing schools’ use of the premium. A research brief was published in September 2014, reporting an improvement in PE teaching in over 90% of cases. The interim report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pe-and-sport-premium-an-investigation-in-primary-schools, and the full report will be published in autumn 2015.   Schools are held accountable for the way in which they spend their funding through Ofsted whole-school inspections. They are required to publish online reports detailing their spending plans and the impact of the primary PE and sport premium. Ofsted has strengthened its coverage of PE and sport, to ensure that all primary school inspections report on the extent to which the school is effectively using the premium to improve the quality and breadth of PE and sport provision.   The premium has been allocated to approximately 18,000 schools in academic year 2014/15. Information on the extent to which individual schools meet the conditions of the premium will be made public through Ofsted’s reporting on schools following section five inspections.

Teachers: Stress

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of stress levels among teachers in England.

Lord Nash: The government recognises that work-related stress is an important issue to address.   School employers are responsible for the health of their workforce. It is vital that they have systems in place that identify and tackle the cause of stress in their staff and provide appropriate support for them. Headteachers also have a duty to lead and manage a healthy workforce with a proper regard for their wellbeing. This includes the expectation of achieving a sensible balance between work and other commitments outside the school.

Schools: Standards

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the speed of education reform does not compromise the assessment of school performance.

Lord Nash: We are introducing new performance measures for primary and secondary schools in 2016. The reforms were announced in March 2014 for primary and October 2013 for secondary schools to give sufficient time to respond to the new measures.   The new measures will make the school accountability system fairer by using progress to measure performance. By focusing on progress, we will be able to identify high and low performing schools more accurately; coasting schools will be identified and schools making good progress with more challenging intakes will be recognised. This will ensure every child can reach their potential.   The speed of reforms has been carefully managed. The department consulted on both primary and secondary accountability reforms before finalising plans and notified schools of the changes in advance to give them time to prepare. The department plans to provide primary schools with the information they need to complete teacher assessments before September and has made guidance and information available to secondary schools on Progress 8 to help them prepare for the reforms.   The Government response to the Primary Assessment and Accountability Consultation was published on 27 March 2014. This is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/new-national-curriculum-primary-assessment-and-accountability The Government response to the Secondary Accountability Consultation was published on 14 October 2013. It is published online at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/secondary-school-accountability-consultation

Sixth Form Colleges

Lord Willis of Knaresborough: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to afford sixth form colleges the same funding protection as schools in any future spending allocation, and (2) to allow sixth form colleges zero VAT on new capital programmes as currently applies to the school sector.

Lord Nash: Decisions about how 16-19 institutions will be funded in 2016/17 will be subject to the outcome of the next cross-government spending round.   Current capital allocations paid to sixth form colleges are in many cases already funded at 100% of the total project cost including VAT, where it is payable. This means that although colleges have to pay VAT on some building works they are not necessarily disadvantaged because of the VAT rules on Education Funding Agency funded programmes. However, we acknowledge that they are not able to recover their VAT costs on self-funded capital projects and certain areas of non-capital expenditure.   VAT refund schemes are the responsibility of Her Majesty’s Treasury. The Department for Education continues to look at how the capital needs of sixth form colleges can be met.

Ministry of Justice

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been prosecuted or cautioned for using a mobile phone whilst driving in each year since 2010 in (1) Essex, (2) Kent, and (3) London.

Lord Faulks: The offence of using a mobile phone while driving is serious, risks harm to others and is wholly unacceptable. The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences related to using a mobile phone while driving, in selected police force areas from 2010 to 2013 (the latest available) can be viewed in the following table. Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015 Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of offences related to driving while using a mobile phone (1), in selected police force areas, 2010 to 2013 (2)(3)(4)  Police Force AreaOutcome2010201120122013  EssexProceeded against2,3011,6631,0761,433Found guilty2,1601,5679971,359  KentProceeded against1,205886561376Found guilty1,135842519340  City of London (5)Proceeded against196208--Found guilty169189--  Metropolitan PoliceProceeded against10,0139,3418,1346,148Found guilty9,3118,6857,2445,210  (1) Offences under RR 110 (1) - 110 (3) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986  (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.  (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (4) The number of defendants found guilty in a particular year may exceed the number proceeded against as the proceedings in the magistrates' court took place in an earlier year and the defendants were found guilty at the Crown Court in the following year; or the defendants were found guilty of a different offence to that for which they were originally proceeded against.  (5) City of London Local Justice Area abolished on 31 December 2011, and merged into Central London Local Justice Area. These data recorded under Metropolitan Police henceforth  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. Ref: PQC HL5624

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Crime

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in each police authority were convicted of alcohol and drug offences in each of the last four years; and what are those figures as a percentage of the population in each police authority area.

Lord Faulks: Alcohol and drug offences can have a very serious impact on individuals and wider communities, while also being a burden on our courts. This is why we have tough sentences in place for the most serious offences, including a life sentence for supply of Class A drugs. Our approach on drugs remains clear. We must prevent drug abuse in our communities, help dependent individuals through treatment and wider recovery support, while ensuring law enforcement protects society by stopping the supply. The number of people found guilty at all courts of alcohol and drug offences, by police force area, in England and Wales, and the figures as a percentage of the population in each police authority area, from 2009 to 2013 (the latest available) can be viewed in the table. Court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.Persons found guilty at all courts for alcohol related offences (1) and drug offences (2) for each police force area in England and Wales, 2009 to 2013 (3)(4) Found guilty% of population (5) 2009201020112012201320092010201120122013Alcohol related offences(1)  Avon and Somerset1,6191,3281,3841,3041,2190.099%0.081%0.085%0.080%0.075%Bedfordshire6206045465274080.098%0.095%0.086%0.083%0.064%Cambridgeshire8047826876406320.098%0.095%0.084%0.078%0.077%Cheshire1,3881,2371,2151,1809130.134%0.120%0.117%0.114%0.088%Cleveland7706355195084760.138%0.113%0.093%0.091%0.085%Cumbria5614704344764090.113%0.094%0.087%0.096%0.082%Derbyshire9918377918046550.096%0.081%0.077%0.078%0.064%Devon and Cornwall1,7241,5121,4961,4531,2540.102%0.089%0.088%0.086%0.074%Dorset7506356505676440.099%0.084%0.086%0.075%0.085%Durham7146325605104340.115%0.102%0.090%0.082%0.070%Essex2,0161,6131,4211,0951,2540.115%0.092%0.081%0.062%0.072%Gloucestershire6235385534164280.103%0.089%0.091%0.069%0.071%Greater Manchester3,1192,6322,3102,5002,1340.115%0.097%0.085%0.092%0.079%Hampshire2,0261,9211,7671,5191,4330.105%0.100%0.092%0.079%0.074%Hertfordshire1,3121,2231,0621,0278230.115%0.107%0.093%0.090%0.072%Humberside9768538127736780.106%0.092%0.088%0.084%0.074%Kent1,8151,5721,4851,2531,1970.103%0.089%0.084%0.071%0.068%Lancashire1,8861,5541,3951,2991,1580.128%0.106%0.095%0.088%0.079%Leicestershire9748868267507250.094%0.086%0.080%0.073%0.070%Lincolnshire8397186937197010.116%0.099%0.096%0.099%0.097%City of London(6)79108117--1.033%1.412%1.530%0.000%0.000%Merseyside1,6051,2321,1721,0379330.116%0.089%0.085%0.075%0.067%Metropolitan Police8,8117,5886,6675,5605,5780.105%0.090%0.079%0.066%0.066%Norfolk7776846598256760.089%0.079%0.076%0.095%0.078%Northamptonshire7457216977366370.105%0.102%0.099%0.104%0.090%Northumbria1,7191,4101,3281,2791,1160.120%0.099%0.093%0.089%0.078%North Yorkshire9858047187506940.122%0.100%0.089%0.093%0.086%Nottinghamshire1,2291,0219169778450.111%0.092%0.083%0.088%0.076%South Yorkshire1,5221,1511,0669358610.112%0.085%0.078%0.069%0.063%Staffordshire1,2471,0059809778590.113%0.091%0.089%0.088%0.078%Suffolk7345776086926070.100%0.078%0.083%0.094%0.082%Surrey1,0688879439739240.093%0.077%0.082%0.084%0.080%Sussex1,6011,4261,3611,2861,0980.098%0.087%0.083%0.079%0.067%Thames Valley2,0461,9751,9601,9031,8390.088%0.085%0.085%0.082%0.079%Warwickshire7235854344674550.132%0.107%0.079%0.085%0.083%West Mercia1,3151,2331,2901,3101,1590.106%0.100%0.104%0.106%0.094%West Midlands3,4992,3542,5652,2631,8220.126%0.085%0.092%0.081%0.065%West Yorkshire2,3321,9101,6901,6921,5000.104%0.085%0.075%0.075%0.067%Wiltshire4744824674974760.068%0.069%0.067%0.072%0.069%Dyfed Powys5805285215434410.112%0.102%0.101%0.105%0.085%Gwent7054905785134360.122%0.085%0.100%0.089%0.075%North Wales9067656356676230.131%0.111%0.092%0.096%0.090%South Wales1,8251,4471,4621,1491,1310.141%0.112%0.113%0.089%0.087%England and Wales62,05452,56549,44046,35142,2850.109%0.092%0.087%0.081%0.074%All Drug Offences including Summary Drug Offences (2)  Avon and Somerset1,1131,3281,5971,8271,7580.068%0.081%0.098%0.112%0.108%Bedfordshire3884814924704300.061%0.076%0.078%0.074%0.068%Cambridgeshire5705996535865920.069%0.073%0.080%0.071%0.072%Cheshire7248017287937530.070%0.077%0.070%0.077%0.073%Cleveland1,0201,0239228108230.182%0.183%0.165%0.145%0.147%Cumbria6406467936416030.128%0.130%0.159%0.129%0.121%Derbyshire6878349058138240.067%0.081%0.088%0.079%0.080%Devon and Cornwall1,2121,4261,4871,0691,0100.072%0.084%0.088%0.063%0.060%Dorset5775554764384290.076%0.074%0.063%0.058%0.057%Durham4284603363143100.069%0.074%0.054%0.051%0.050%Essex1,1611,2551,3611,0171,2160.066%0.072%0.078%0.058%0.069%Gloucestershire5244944034204460.087%0.082%0.067%0.069%0.074%Greater Manchester3,1973,8303,8873,3472,9850.118%0.141%0.143%0.123%0.110%Hampshire1,7141,8171,7361,8481,8600.089%0.094%0.090%0.096%0.097%Hertfordshire9851,1681,1501,1741,1150.086%0.102%0.101%0.103%0.098%Humberside7267368728788760.079%0.080%0.095%0.095%0.095%Kent1,2931,4311,3281,1881,3120.073%0.081%0.075%0.067%0.074%Lancashire1,6551,9121,6731,7401,4600.113%0.130%0.114%0.118%0.099%Leicestershire5386775665524740.052%0.066%0.055%0.053%0.046%Lincolnshire4564524683874160.063%0.062%0.065%0.053%0.057%City of London(6)7897120--1.020%1.268%1.569%0.000%0.000%Merseyside3,8444,1713,8653,5603,0070.277%0.301%0.279%0.257%0.217%Metropolitan Police12,69513,92413,76412,72213,3790.151%0.166%0.164%0.151%0.159%Norfolk5806797107077230.067%0.078%0.082%0.081%0.083%Northamptonshire3355074344194980.047%0.072%0.061%0.059%0.070%Northumbria1,4601,5471,9191,8431,5610.102%0.108%0.134%0.129%0.109%North Yorkshire5766166155264880.072%0.077%0.076%0.065%0.061%Nottinghamshire1,0191,1871,2039428750.092%0.107%0.109%0.085%0.079%South Yorkshire1,3641,5201,5471,5081,5440.100%0.112%0.114%0.111%0.114%Staffordshire6267016517258430.057%0.063%0.059%0.065%0.076%Suffolk5344154825516340.073%0.056%0.065%0.075%0.086%Surrey6106207499769140.053%0.054%0.065%0.085%0.079%Sussex1,4201,4201,4141,2911,2140.087%0.087%0.087%0.079%0.074%Thames Valley1,9161,9291,7141,8391,8680.083%0.083%0.074%0.079%0.081%Warwickshire2052991842152100.037%0.054%0.034%0.039%0.038%West Mercia6066056216766190.049%0.049%0.050%0.055%0.050%West Midlands3,1712,9402,9992,7622,5290.114%0.106%0.108%0.099%0.091%West Yorkshire2,1052,4342,3402,2411,9650.093%0.108%0.104%0.100%0.087%Wiltshire4073283173204070.059%0.047%0.046%0.046%0.059%Dyfed Powys7058287979389950.136%0.160%0.154%0.182%0.193%Gwent5425376316286270.094%0.093%0.109%0.108%0.108%North Wales5376195534584900.078%0.089%0.080%0.066%0.071%South Wales1,8912,1332,1961,9661,9050.146%0.165%0.170%0.152%0.147%England and Wales56,83461,98161,65858,12556,9870.100%0.109%0.108%0.102%0.100%   -' =- Nil (1) Includes offences under sections 6(2B)(2C) of Licensing Act 1902, and sections 137,138,141,142,145,146,147,149(1)(3)(4)7A, 7B,150,151,152,153,156,157 of Licencing Act 2003 ,Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 S.1,Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 SS.1(4), 1A(4),2(1)(2),ss5B(3),5C(4), 5D(3)1(2)(3),1A(2)(3),3(10)5B(2)5C(3)5D(2)5C(5),6(2), Policing and Crime Act 2009 S.30, Road Traffic Act 1988 S.5(1)(a)(b),Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12,Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Sch.12 P.5   (2) Includes Sections 12, 13, 19(a), (b) Criminal Justice Co-Operation Act 1990, RR.6(5), 7, 8, & 9(2) Controlled Drugs (Drug Precursors)(Community External Trade) Regs 2008, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (SS.50(2), (3) & (5), 68 (2) & (4) & 170(1), (2), (3) & (4) & Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 SS 327-330, 333, 334 (1,2) & 336 (5) & (6)   (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.   (4) The conviction statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.   (5) Population estimates mid 2013 England and Wales. (6) City of London Local Justice Area abolished on 31 December 2011, and merged into Central London Local Justice Area. These data recorded under Metropolitan Police henceforth   Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.  Ref: PQs HL5791

Freedom of Information

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the proportion of requests under freedom of information legislation which originate from journalists as opposed to members of the public since that legislation was enacted; and what assessment they have made of the cost to the public purse of the freedom of information scheme to date.

Lord Faulks: There is no requirement for journalists to identify themselves as such when requesting information from a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Therefore we hold no reliable data as to what proportion of requests they are responsible for. In 2012 the Ministry of Justice commissioned a costing exercise, ‘Strand 3- Investigative Study to inform the FOIA (2000) post-legislative review’, which concluded that in central government the average cost of handling a request for information was £184. It concluded that for central government the cost of dealing with FOI requests in 2011 was £8,5m. For non-central public authorities the study concluded that the average cost of handling a request for information was £164, however, there is no data as to how many requests are received by these, so a total cost has not been estimated.

Ministry of Defence

Veterans: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether army veterans based in Northern Ireland will benefit from the £25 million healthcare fund for aged veterans announced in the Budget, and if so, how.

Lord Astor of Hever: The UK's ex-Service community is largely elderly; almost half are over age 75 and 64% are over age 65. It is important that this country meets their needs, just as they answered the needs of their country; meeting the call of the nation during the First and Second World Wars, through national service, voluntary enlistment and the reserve forces.To support this community, £5 million of LIBOR funding has been made available every year for the next five years for any UK veterans who are surviving World War Two veterans, those who undertook National Service and other voluntary enlisted veterans who, by virtue of their age, may need some focused support in relation to their health and social care needs.The funds will not provide benevolence payments to individuals. Charities can bid for money to provide practical support and/or companionship to this group of veterans to improve their wellbeing. This might also include projects to build or enhance access to centres where elderly veterans can meet, or to promote the education of elderly veterans' needs, research and other support mechanisms.The Ministry of Defence intends to administer the fund through a dedicated grant scheme. The terms of this scheme are being developed and will be announced in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Young People

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to increase the long-term employment of young ethnic minority people in the United Kingdom.

Lord Freud: The number of people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds in employment is at a near record high, with unemployment rates falling across all ethnic groups. Latest figures show that there are 129,000 more people from BME backgrounds in work compared to the same time last year, with the total number, at a near record high of more than 3 million. The employment rate has also risen by 0.7 percentage points over the last year. Unemployment has fallen for all ethnic minorities and is down by 2 percentage points (88,000) over the last year and down by 2.9 percentage points (103,000) since 2011. The youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the 1970s. Work Coaches offer all claimants tailored support from day one of their claim. Under the Youth Contract, we are providing additional funding and Jobcentre Plus support for those who are still facing barriers to work including young people from Black and Ethnic Minority groups. We provide work experience and sector based work academy placements to give young people training and experience to help them to get into work. DWP employment programmes such as the Work Programme, Youth Contract and Mandatory Employment Programmes have been designed for all long-term claimants and are tailor made for the individual. One of the Government’s strategies for increasing ethnic minority employment and participation in the labour market is based around mainstreaming opportunity through locally delivered flexible provision. In addition, in October 2014 we introduced an intensive 3 month support package for 18-19 year olds from Day 1 of their claim in areas of high youth unemployment and the 8 highest concentrated areas of young claimants from Black and Ethnic Minority groups. This additional support will run until the end of March 2015.

Employment: Young People

Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase employment opportunities for young people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, in the light of research from the House of Commons Library showing an increase in long-term unemployment for young people from those backgrounds.

Lord Freud: The number of people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds in employment is at a near record high, with unemployment rates falling across all ethnic groups. Latest figures show that there are 129,000 more people from BME backgrounds in work compared to the same time last year, with the total number, at a near record high of more than 3 million. The employment rate has also risen by 0.7 percentage points over the last year. Unemployment has fallen for all ethnic minorities and is down by 2 percentage points (88,000) over the last year and down by 2.9 percentage points (103,000) since 2011. The youth claimant count is at its lowest level since the 1970s. Work Coaches offer all claimants tailored support from day one of their claim. Under the Youth Contract, we are providing additional funding and Jobcentre Plus support for those who are still facing barriers to work including young people from Black and Ethnic Minority groups. We provide work experience and sector based work academy placements to give young people training and experience to help them to get into work. DWP employment programmes such as the Work Programme, Youth Contract and Mandatory Employment Programmes have been designed for all long-term claimants and are tailor made for the individual. One of the Government’s strategies for increasing ethnic minority employment and participation in the labour market is based around mainstreaming opportunity through locally delivered flexible provision. In addition, in October 2014 we introduced an intensive 3 month support package for 18-19 year olds from Day 1 of their claim in areas of high youth unemployment and the 8 highest concentrated areas of young claimants from Black and Ethnic Minority groups. This additional support will run until the end of March 2015.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Thames Tideway Tunnel

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the Thames Tideway Tunnel project provides value for money, in the light of the National Audit Office’s Report "The choice of finance for capital investment" published on 18 March.

Lord De Mauley: The NAO report considered the difference between publicly-funded investment and public-private partnerships, such as PFI. It describes the Government’s decision-making processes and summarises recent developments. The report does not draw conclusions about the Government’s record.   The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a private sector project of a scale and complexity unique to the UK water industry. The Government issued the Strategic Case for the Tunnel (“Creating a River Thames Fit for our Future”) in November 2011, and the need for a tunnel was confirmed by Parliament in March 2012 when the Waste Water National Policy Statement was approved. The Government confirmed in a Written Ministerial Statement on 5 June 2014 (Official Report, column 11WS) that it would, subject to State Aid clearance, offer a contingent financial support package to the winner of the procurement for an Infrastructure Provider to finance and deliver the Thames Tideway Tunnel currently being undertaken by Thames Water. The Government continues to judge that the project will be value for money for taxpayers and customers who will be directly funding the Tunnel, and that an Infrastructure Provider procured by Thames Water is the preferred route for delivering the project.

Home Office

Asylum: LGBT People

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 12 March (HL5472), how many cases made on the basis of sexuality have been recorded on the Case Information Database; over what period of time; and how many were (1) granted, and (2) refused asylum.

Lord Bates: The process of recording this data on the Home Office's Case Information Database requires significant further development. As such, the Home Office has not yet reached a point where it can provide an accurate picture of the number of asylum claims based on sexuality.

Wales Office

Commission on Devolution in Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish a table indicating, on the basis of the Secretary of State for Wales' St David's Day statement, which specific proposals of the Silk report have been rejected on the basis of failure to secure unanimity amongst the four consulted political parties; and which parties objected to each of the Silk proposals so rejected.

Baroness Randerson: Annex A of the Command Paper Powers for a Purpose: Towards a Lasting Devolution Settlement in Wales (Cm9020) sets out the Silk Commission’s recommendations and indicates where there was consensus and where there was none. It is for the political parties themselves to set out their view on particular Silk II recommendations.

HM Treasury

EU Grants and Loans

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding they have committed to the European Fund for Strategic Investment; which other member states have so far committed funds; and, in each case, how much.

Lord Deighton: The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is a €21bn guarantee fund which seeks to leverage other sources of investment, with the aim of delivering a total estimated target of €315bn in investment in the European economy.   The funding for the EFSI’s first loss €21bn guarantee will be backed by the EU Budget (€16bn) and the EIB (€5bn). All EU Member States, including the UK, contribute to the guarantee through our shareholding at the EIB, and as a contributor to the EU Budget. No Member States have committed bilateral funding to the EFSI, though some Member States have announced an intention to partner with the EFSI through their National Promotional Banks by contributing to projects benefiting from finance by the EFSI.

Companies: Ownership

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had, or intend to have, with other European Union member states with regard to registers of beneficial ownership of companies being made publicly available.

Lord Deighton: The Government fought hard and successfully for the implementation of central registers of company beneficial ownership information for all European Union Member States under the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. All regulated businesses under the Directive, as well as people and organisations able to demonstrate ‘legitimate interest’ will also be granted access to this information. Countries will be able to go further, as the UK is, and make their central registers publicly accessibly. We are working to encourage EU partners to match the UK’s ambition as Member States transpose the Directive into national law.

Companies: Ownership

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to introduce public registers of beneficial ownership of companies within their jurisdictions.

Lord Deighton: The Government is in continued dialogue with the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies on the need to improve the transparency of company beneficial ownership information and we are keeping them informed as UK policy develops. We believe that a central public register of company beneficial ownership is the best way to improve transparency of company ownership and meet the urgent challenges of illicit finance and tax evasion. At the December Joint Ministerial Council the UK and Overseas Territory Leaders agreed to work together in raising international standards and to meet again to take forward implementation of the G20 Principles on beneficial ownership. Dialogue has continued with the Overseas Territories since the Joint Ministerial Council and we plan to meet again in the coming weeks. The Crown Dependencies have also committed to issue consultations on establishing central registries or in Jersey’s case - where a private register already exists - to assess its effectiveness. The consultations in Jersey and the Isle of Man have closed and Guernsey’s consultation is due in the first quarter of 2015.

Companies: Ownership

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to other G7 and G20 countries to adopt in principle public registers of the beneficial ownership of companies within their jurisdiction.

Lord Deighton: The Government has advocated publicly accessible central registers of company beneficial ownership, including through the 2013 UK G8 Presidency, G7, G20 and EU engagement, and in bilateral discussions. The Government successfully pressed for the implementation of central registers of company beneficial ownership information for all European Union Member States under the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. We continue to work bilaterally and through EU and G20 meetings to encourage international partners to show similar ambition.

Cabinet Office

Households

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the increase in households between the 2001 census and the 2011 census came from households with (1) a foreign-born household reference person, and (2) a United Kingdom-born household reference person.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - 2011 Census
(PDF Document, 98.04 KB)

Devolution: England

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 10 March (HL5107) concerning England's traditional counties, whether, in the light of their pride in waving the flag of St George they intend to hold a referendum on the establishment of an English parliament with equal status and powers to the Scottish Parliament.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: I refer the noble Lord to the answers I gave on 8 December 2014, 16 January 2015, 26 January 2015 and 23 February 2015 to HL3166, HL3924, HL4275 and HL4634. The Government has no plans to hold a referendum in England to ascertain the level of support for an English Parliament. Discussions on this issue and other proposals relating to 'the English question' are ongoing.

Armed Forces: General Election 2015

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent efforts they have made to ensure Armed Forces personnel posted overseas are able to vote in the General Election.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government has extended the length of the electoral timetable for UK Parliamentary elections from 17 working days to 25 working days and removed the restriction on issuing postal votes prior to the eleventh working day before the day of the poll. Combined, these steps will allow Armed Forces personnel posted overseas more time to receive, complete and return their postal ballot packs in time for their vote to be counted. In addition, the Government recently announced funding of an additional £9.8 million to maximise electoral registration. A proportion of this funding has been allocated to encouraging Armed Forces personnel to register to vote. The Government is also providing pre-paid envelopes for Armed Forces personnel based overseas to return their postal votes.

Civil Partnerships

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil partnerships have been registered since the commencement of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to PEER - Civil Partnerships
(PDF Document, 98.99 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

BBC Trust

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action the Department for Culture, Media and Sport takes to ensure that the trustees of the BBC Trust meet their time commitments and that they physically attend meetings rather than participating by telephone.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: There is no requirement on Government to monitor internal BBC Trust processes such as attendance at meetings or overall time requirements on Trustees. The BBC Trust reports on Trustees' attendance in the BBC Annual Report which can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport/2014/bbc-trust/inside-the-trust/governance.html

Department of Health

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 10 February (HL4443) and 9 March (HL5132), to what extent miscarriages and stillbirths are considered by the HFEA to be abnormalities; and when they will place in the Library of the House a full copy of the correspondence between the member of the HFEA’s Expert Panel and the Zhang research group.

Earl Howe: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it uses standard definitions for miscarriages and stillbirths: miscarriage is a pregnancy loss up to 24 weeks gestation and a stillbirth after 24 weeks completed gestation.   ‘Abnormalities’ are considered depending on the specific details and circumstances of the case.   As stated in my written answer of 10 February 2015 (HL4443), I have nothing further to add to the answers given previously on the subject of the published abstract of the Zhang research group.

Opiates: Misuse

Lord Patel of Bradford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of changes in the number of deaths from heroin and morphine abuse over the first full year since they placed a financial incentive on the successful completion of drug treatment; and whether they have any plans to discontinue that policy on the grounds of patient safety.

Earl Howe: Whilst no conclusions can be drawn from one year’s data, Public Health England is analysing the drug misuse and treatment datasets to identify possible reasons for the change in drug misuse deaths reported in 2013. This analysis is due to be published in a statistical bulletin in 2015 and will help inform any possible future actions.

Pensions

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remark by Lord Newby on 5 February that for deferred payments, the "lump sum is income in the year taken" (HL Deb col 791), whether they will set out the accurate position with regard to the effect of taking a lump sum in excess of £23,250 instead of an annuity on a person’s eligibility to take a direct payment.

Earl Howe: Further to the debate on the Pension Schemes Bill Third Reading (HL Deb col 791), I would like to clarify the point made by my Noble Friend Lord Newby, in response to a question raised by the Noble Lord, Lord Lipsey. In Lord Newby’s response, he set out the position in relation to how lump sums accessed under the new pension reforms would be treated under the tax rules. However, I understand that the Noble Lord, Lord Lipsey was referring to the treatment of such funds under the charging rules for social care.   The new pension reforms will come into force on 6 April and will allow people with defined contribution pensions to access their pensions more flexibly. Where someone chooses to take up this flexibility and withdraw a lump sum, this will be treated as capital. This will then be taken into account in calculating what a person can afford to contribute towards the cost of their care based on the social care charging rules for the product the funds have been moved to. To be treated as income, the resources would need to be in respect of a specified period or form part of a series of payments.   With regard to Deferred Payment Agreements (DPA), the universal scheme introduced under the Care Act will come into force on 1 April 2015 and sets out a national framework for whom a local authority must offer a DPA to. This is based on their level of non-housing assets which is assessed according to the charging framework for social care.   People will therefore need to be aware of how their pension choices may affect what they are asked to contribute towards the cost of their care and their options for meeting that cost.   The Government has committed to support the new pensions freedoms through free and impartial guidance from Pension Wise, to help people make informed and confident decisions about how they use their defined contribution pension savings in retirement. The service will encourage consumers to consider issues such as long term care needs in the context of their decision, signposting consumers to sources of further specialist information as appropriate.

Care Homes

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a shortage of care workers does not lead to the closures of private nursing homes.

Earl Howe: The Department recognises that to meet future challenges the adult social care sector will need to attract a bigger and more diverse workforce. Recruiting and retaining a quality workforce is central to providing the care services that people want.   A new adult social care workforce recruitment and retention strategy was launched by the Department in partnership with Skills for Care in September 2014. The priorities of the strategy are to raise the profile of social care and to address the above average turnover in the sector.

Health Education

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they propose to raise awareness earlier in life of the increased risk of diabetes and heart disease resulting from prolonged watching of television.

Earl Howe: Lack of physical activity is a key risk factor for many chronic conditions; getting people more active could prevent up to 35% of coronary heart disease and stroke and 40% of type 2 diabetes. Getting active in early life and developing physical literacy is vital for developing a lifelong habit of physical activity.  Public Health England's flagship Change4Life campaign aims to help families and children in England to eat well, move more and live longer. The campaign has enjoyed considerable success and unparalleled levels of engagement. Since its launch in 2009 more than 2.7 million people have signed up to Change4Life and it now has more than 200 national partners. Its tools and resources incentivise and encourage behaviour change, for example the Change4Life/Disney 10 Minute Shake-Up campaign generated over 104 million extra minutes of activity for children in summer 2014.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of health tourists in England in each of the last three years; and how they define that category.

Earl Howe: The Department does not hold this information. Although the Health and Social Care Information Centre collects hospital episode statistics these do not contain information about the patient’s residency, nationality or migration status.   However, in published research commissioned by the Department it was estimated that on average there are 2.5 million visitors and migrants in England at any point in time. The cost of treating all visitors and migrants is estimated to be around £2 billion per year.

Mental Capacity

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action a family or carer can take in the event that a patient’s general practitioner refuses to undertake a mental capacity assessment for a Court of Protection application or where a solicitor has doubts about a client’s testamentary capacity.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they offer to general practitioners on their responsibilities under the general medical services contract in relation to mental capacity assessments for a Court of Protection application or where a solicitor has doubts about a client's testamentary capacity.

Earl Howe: The Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice states (paragraph 4.41) that “for a legal transaction (for example, making a will), a solicitor or legal practitioner must assess the client’s capacity to instruct them. They must assess whether the client has the capacity to satisfy any relevant legal test. In cases of doubt, they should get an opinion from a doctor or other professional expert”.   Paragraph 4.42 goes on to state “more complex decisions are likely to need more formal assessments. A professional opinion on the person’s capacity might be necessary. But the final decision about a person’s capacity must be made by the person intending to make the decision or carry out the action on behalf of the person who lacks capacity – not the professional, who is there to advise”.   If a general practitioner (GP) refuses, when asked, to provide this professional opinion it would be possible to seek the services of a different professional. The clinical commissioning group in question could sign-post accordingly.   Capacity assessments are not part of the general medical services contract and so no specific guidance has been provided in this respect. However, GPs must have regard to the above referred to Code of Practice.

Community Care

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Winterbourne View—Time for Change report published in November 2014 and the Transforming Care for People with Learning Disabilities—Next Steps report published January 2015, what plans they have to introduce a national mandatory commissioning framework for community services for people with a learning disability or autism whose behaviour challenges.

Earl Howe: NHS England has a core function to support local commissioning development by setting out clearer expectations about the services which need to be in place to meet standards. It is also able to support commissioners in putting such services in place, but it is not able to mandate a specific way of commissioning services.   The Department is currently consulting on whether to use powers under the Care Act 2014 to mandate pooled budgets between local government and the National Health Service for spending on appropriate community based care for people with learning disabilities. The consultation document was published on 6 March and can be found at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-rights-for-people-with-learning-disabilities

Health Services: Sign Language

Baroness Hollins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by NHS England in establishing a framework for workforce planning to increase the supply of British Sign Language interpreters within healthcare settings.

Earl Howe: NHS England has no plans to establish a framework for workforce planning to increase the supply of British Sign Language interpreters within healthcare settings.   The provision of language support, including interpretation and translation, is driven by the requirement for all National Health Service organisations to comply with the public sector equality duty. As public sector organisations, NHS bodies have a duty to ensure that all people have equal access to the information and services that they provide.   The provision of interpretation and translation services by NHS bodies is a matter for local determination based on the composition of the communities they serve, and the needs and circumstances of their patients, service users and local populations.   As part of its commitment to improving the experience of patients using NHS services, empowering people to be equal partners in their own care and help reduce unacceptable variation in the quality of reasonable adjustments, NHS England is developing an Information Standard for the provision of accessible, personalised information.

NHS: Empty Property

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the National Health Service estate is currently not in use; and what is the total cost to the taxpayer of maintaining unused NHS properties.

Earl Howe: The information is not available centrally.

Asthma: Children

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent on research into the prevention and treatment of paediatric asthma in each of the last five years.

Earl Howe: The following table shows estimated expenditure on research relating to the prevention and treatment of paediatric asthma by the Medical Research Council, and by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through its research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships.   £ million  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14Medical Research Council2.92.62.93.43.4National Institute for Health Research1.21.61.30.90.7Total4.14.24.24.34.1   Total spend by the NIHR on research relating to the prevention and treatment of paediatric asthma is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on these topics cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.

Nuts: Allergies

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being taken to implement the findings of the Learning Early About Peanut study on peanut allergy.

Earl Howe: The Food Standards Agency advise that the findings of the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study will be considered alongside all relevant published scientific evidence by the Committee on Toxicity (COT) as part of its review on infant feeding and the development of allergic and autoimmune disease.   The Government will consider the recommendations arising from the COT review.   The COT’s statement will also be provided to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition Subgroup on Maternal and Child Nutrition as part of its review on complementary and young child feeding.

NHS: Private Sector

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total amount of profit made by private sector organisations providing NHS-funded services, in each of the last five years.

Earl Howe: The Department does not hold this information centrally.

Tuberous Sclerosis: Drugs

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policies NHS England has adopted for the funding of everolimus for patients with tuberous sclerosis.

Earl Howe: NHS England has advised that decisions on which specialised services and treatments to invest in are based on an assessment of their effectiveness following clinical trials or other evidence of effectiveness, taking into account the views of expert clinicians and other stakeholders.   Over the coming weeks, the six Programmes of Care that are responsible for advising NHS England on specialised services will be drawing up the work programme for 2015-16, which will include developing a number of policies, including ones for the provision of everolimus for tuberous sclerosis for complex related renal angiomyolipoma and everolimus for Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma.   In the meantime, NHS England does not routinely commission everolimus for the treatment of tuberous sclerosis, although it will consider funding it in exceptional clinical circumstances. Clinicians can submit individual funding requests for this treatment to us on behalf of their patients.

Diseases

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked NHS England whether it will rationalise the number of committees concerned with assessing the funding of treatments for patients with rare diseases.

Earl Howe: NHS England substantially revised their decision making process regarding specialised services at the end of 2014 in preparation for work planning in 2015.   NHS England has responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services and is currently consulting on changes to the principles and processes by which it makes decisions on prioritising investment in specialised services.   NHS England has provided assurance that any prioritisation which is urgent on clinical grounds will continue to be dealt with quickly through their existing procedures. The route for individual funding requests remains in place.   The consultation can be found at:   www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/investing-in-specialised-commissioning

Mesothelioma

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the British Lung Foundation about progressing research into mesothelioma, and in particular taking research using adult stem cells to clinical trials.

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what public sector funding has been provided in each of the past 10 years to support mesothelioma research.

Earl Howe: Prior to the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in April 2006, the main part of the total health research expenditure of the Department of Health was devolved to and managed by National Health Service organisations. The NHS organisations reported on their use of these allocations in annual research and development reports. These reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas, including cancer. They do not provide details of research into particular cancer sites. From April 2006 to March 2009, transitional research funding was allocated to these organisations at reducing levels. At the same time, an increasing amount of NHS research funding was awarded competitively through new NIHR programmes and schemes.   Expenditure by the NIHR through research programmes, research centres and units, and research training awards on mesothelioma research is shown in the following table:   2006-07£ million2007-08£ million2008-09£ million2009-10£ million2010-11£ million2011-12£ million2012-13£ million2013-14£ million0.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.4   Total spend by the NIHR on mesothelioma research is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this topic cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.   The NIHR invests in infrastructure for experimental medicine to translate scientific developments into benefits for patients. This infrastructure includes biomedical centres and units, clinical research facilities, and experimental cancer medicine centres. The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University College London has contributed to the funding of recent research on the use of TRAIL (tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)-expressing mesenchymal stem cells to reduce tumour growth in malignant mesothelioma.   The following table provides expenditure by the Medical Research Council on research related to mesothelioma over the past six years. Information on spend from 2004-05 to 2007-08 was not available within the timescale.   2008-09£ million2009-10£ million2010-11£ million2011-12£ million2012-13£ million2013-14£ million0.90.81.72.42.21.7   In April 2014, I convened a high level meeting between the Association of British Insurers and the British Lung Foundation (BLF) to discuss how insurers can remain engaged in support for mesothelioma research. Two insurers – Aviva and Zurich – who participated in the earlier donation by insurers of £3 million to the BLF, have agreed to each donate £250,000 per annum to the BLF for mesothelioma research over the next two years – a combined total of £1 million.

NHS: Finance

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the planned consultation highlighted in Monitor's publication "The new NHS provider licence", what plans they have to implement the risk pool levy in order to ensure the continuity of commissioner-requested services in the event of provider failure; and whether such a levy system will be implemented in 2015–16.

Earl Howe: There are currently no plans to implement the risk pool or risk pool levy in 2015 or later. The Department may review the implementation of a risk pool position at a later date once there is a better understanding of the Commissioner Requested Services market.

NHS: Private Sector

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken and are planning to take to prevent service providers in the National Health Service from targeting (1) lower-cost patients, and (2) more profitable services.

Earl Howe: A provider of non-primary care services is contractually obliged, under the provisions of the NHS Standard Contract it has entered into with National Health Service commissioners, to provide the range of services commissioned under that contract. Once contracted to provide a service, the provider may not pick and choose to whom that service is provided.

NHS: Finance

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the consultation on the NHS National Tariff Payment System 2015–16, what steps they have taken and are planning to take to ensure that health providers treating complex patients are not under-reimbursed by the payment by results system; and whether a more cost-reflective tariff system will be implemented in 2015–16.

Earl Howe: Following the outcome of the consultation on the 2015/16 National Tariff Payment System, Monitor has to decide whether to refer the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority or develop further proposals on which to re-consult. In deciding on the way forward, Monitor will carefully consider responses received through the consultation. However, this process, and resolution under either option, will take time, which means that a new tariff will not be in place by 1 April 2015.   On 18 February 2015, NHS England and Monitor wrote to providers of National Health Service-funded care to offer the choice of an enhanced alternative, the Enhanced Tariff Option (ETO), for 2015/16, which involves a set of local variations under the 2014/15 national tariff rules. If adopted by the whole sector, it would be worth around £500 million more to providers than the 2015/16 tariff proposals consulted on last year. A copy of the letter is attached. The ETO includes a change to the proposed acute specialised services gain and loss share rule, whereby providers of specialised services will retain 70% of the value of any over-performance against baseline, rather than 50%. The list of providers who chose this alternative is attached. Those who have not accepted the ETO will remain on 2014/15 tariff arrangements in the interim.   For future years’ tariffs NHS England and Monitor are considering the use of a more recent version of the Healthcare Resource Group currency as the basis for setting national prices, known as HRG4+. This currency is designed to better reflect the differences in the costs of treating routine (typically non-specialised) and complex (typically specialised) patients. NHS England and Monitor will begin engagement on future plans with the sector shortly. 



ETO Providers
(PDF Document, 168.82 KB)




2015-2016 Tariff Proposals
(PDF Document, 138.95 KB)

NHS: Private Sector

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what mechanisms are in place to prevent private sector providers making excess profits in contracts for NHS-funded services.

Earl Howe: The Government has always been committed to minimising scope for some providers to earn excess profits by treating less complex and cheaper cases: so-called “cherry picking”.   Prices payable to providers, under the National Tariff, would take account of the patients they treat and the range of services they offer to ensure a fair level of pay for providers. As a result, providers undertaking only the more simple interventions would be paid a suitably lower price.

NHS: Private Sector

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what mechanisms are in place to prevent providers who bid for contracts for NHS-funded services bidding at a loss in order to undercut other providers.

Earl Howe: The terms of each contract are decided by clinical commissioning groups, and by doing this they outline what they expect from each provider.   The Government is clear that where National Health Service commissioners decide to use competition this must always be as a means to improve the quality of NHS services and achieve best value, as opposed to being driven by price alone.

NHS: Private Sector

Baroness Wheeler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average profit margin projected by private sector providers in contracts for NHS-funded services; and what is the average margin of profits actually made.

Earl Howe: The Department does not hold this information centrally.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

The Lord Bishop of Bristol: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many places of safety have been provided under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983; and what assessment they have made of the geographic spread of such places.

Earl Howe: The Care Quality Commission has created an interactive web-based map showing the location of designated health-based places of safety in England for people detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983:  http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/map-health-based-places-safety-0   The current version shows 167 places of safety in England.

Hereditary Diseases

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisation or body is responsible for assessing the needs of the local population for carrier screening for genetic disorders in at risk populations without an established family history.

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of provision in the National Health Service of carrier screening services for Tay Sachs disease in the Ashkenazi Jewish community since the change in national screening policy in April 2013.

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which government department or organisation or body in the National Health Service is currently responsible for setting or determining the national policy for carrier screening for (1) Tay Sachs disease, (2) Familial Dysautonomia and Canavan disease, and (3) other severe inherited genetic disorders, in at risk populations without an established family history.

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which government department, NHS organisation or body is currently responsible for commissioning carrier screening services for (1) Tay Sachs disease, (2) Familial Dysautonomia and Canavan disease, and (3) other severe inherited genetic disorders, in at risk populations without an established family history.

Earl Howe: The UK National Screening Committee makes recommendations on whole population screening programmes. It is for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or its accredited guideline producing bodies to recommend care and testing of people at high risk.   NHS England has commissioning arrangements in place for carrier testing for Tay Sachs disease for at risk populations. Genetic testing will be undertaken where there is a known family history, which indicates a risk of the specific condition or in response to the individual’s clinical symptoms. In the absence of a family history or clinical symptoms it is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups based on their local needs as to whether they fund referrals to clinical genetics for carrier screening for Tay Sachs disease.   Genomics offers a great opportunity to improve our insight into genetic diseases. It is for this reason that the Government launched a world-leading project to sequence 100,000 genomes from National Health Service patients and established Genomics England, a subsidiary of the Department, to deliver the project.

Diseases

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that commissioning routes in respect of treatment for ultra-rare diseases are as quick and thorough as possible.

Earl Howe: NHS England has responsibility for the commissioning of specialised services and is currently consulting on changes to the principles and processes by which it makes decisions on prioritising investment in specialised services.   NHS England has provided assurance that any prioritisation which is urgent on clinical grounds will continue to be dealt with quickly through their existing procedures. The route for individual funding requests remains in place.   The consultation can be found at:   www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/investing-in-specialised-commissioning

Pharmacy

The Countess of Mar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the position of patients, previously served by a dispensing doctor practice, who live within 1.6 km of a pharmacy that closes, but still retains its licence, as a result of the closure of the Essential Small Pharmacies Scheme on 1 April 2015.

Earl Howe: The ending of the essential small pharmacy local pharmaceutical services scheme on 31 March 2015 does not require such pharmacies to close. That is a decision for the individual contractor concerned. They may decide to return to the main National Health Service pharmaceutical list and come under the terms of the national community pharmacy contractual framework. Alternatively, they can decide to submit a proposal to NHS England to provide local pharmaceutical services. NHS England is working with individual providers of essential small pharmacies to ensure people in affected communities can continue to access appropriate NHS pharmaceutical services. However, if an essential small pharmacy – or any other type of pharmacy - did decide to close, it would no longer be able to provide NHS pharmaceutical services.   Patients can at any time request in writing that a doctor provides them with NHS pharmaceutical services. Applications should be made via the doctor to the appropriate NHS England office. To be eligible to receive dispensing services from a doctor, a patient must meet certain criteria, such as having serious difficulty obtaining services from a pharmacy or the patient lives in a designated rural area, more than 1.6 kilometres from the nearest pharmacy. These criteria are set out in Regulation 48 of the National Health Services (Pharmaceutical Services and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013 – SI 2013/349. A patient must also be on the doctor’s patient list, or the patient list of the practice at which the doctor provides or performs primary medical services, and the practice must be authorised by NHS England to provide NHS dispensing services.

Orphan Drugs

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any decision around ultra-orphan drugs will be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Committee.

Earl Howe: We have referred a number of high cost, low volume technologies to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for evaluation under its highly specialised technologies work programme. We will continue to do so for technologies that meet the specified criteria and where a NICE evaluation would add value. Further information about the process by which topics are selected for referral to NICE’s highly specialised technologies work programme is available at:   www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/topic-selection